New tower of glass opposit the golden cross

I can't see Rightacres liking that very much, and you have to wonder if they were thinking they were going to be building Cardiff's tallest tower. It will be way off based on the initial announcemet and with them being so close to Cardiff Council on the scheme, and it being arguably the flagship development in the city at the moment, you have to wonder if we'll see something much taller than the masterplan tower. Maybe it's just me dreaming!

I know Paul McCarthy the CEO of Rightacres reasonably well - and he's no size queen! He's a local boy who loves his city but who wants to make money. I don't think Rightacres will go for height for the sake of it.

Good on him, he deserves a medal for transforming this part of the city, and so far everything I've seen in the scheme is of a decent quality. Number 1 is a very nice building. I'd prefer a really well designed tower over height as well, I don't think many wouldn't, but quite curious if their plans for it are the same or have changed, not just on height but also the use. I suppose we'll find out soon enough, I'd imagine Number 2 and The Interchange building are more in their thoughts than anything north of Wood Street for now.

I'm disappointed that Capital Quarter doesn't have more buildings of that quality. At the very least, just have a simple glazed facade rather than all that rain-screen cladding crap that dates so quickly.

I think No. 1 Capital Quarter, on its own, was disappointing. However, No. 2 looks rather better, and it actually makes No. 1 look better too. I think as the site develops it will fit together as a nice planned development with a common design but some individuality to the buildings. The cladding isn't the best quality but given its location is not 100% prime this office space was never gonna command the best rents - it goes for about £19 per square foot, which is really not that much. Even a few extra £s per square foot makes a difference. For instance, No. 1 Capital Quarter is about 80,000 square feet of lettable space. If it could get rents of £24 a square foot, which is what 1 Central Square can, the extra £5 per square foot would be £400,000 a year extra rent. At 6% yield, that would increase capital values by around £6.67 million. That can justify a much nicer external appearance, among other things.

Britain needs to build more skyscrapers. It's not as if we've got much land to play with, especially since there's a housing shortage and we want to preserve our green spaces.

There's plenty of spare land in the centre of Cardiff. You build 'skyscrapers' if you need to. Otherwise let the light shine in.

Seems like more of the British disease. We act like there is a shortage of land even when there isn't. Time for a LVT and a rocket up the backside of the land bankers.

Build high and proud... the UK is a tiny country anyway, so it best to build high while we have the space

There's some very interesting new images that have been added to the planning documents. I can't add them on here so here's the code: 15/02820/MJR

It looks like both Watkin Jones buildings have been added to the master plan model of Cardiff. Other developments have also been added and can be seen in the background, including the capital quarter towers and the new land currently occupied by NoFitState.

If they've been added then maybe we'll get an official announcement soon? I'm hoping that's the case, because after spending this weekend in Leeds we really need to catch up. They've got the right idea up there!

It looks like both Watkin Jones buildings have been added to the master plan model of Cardiff. Other developments have also been added and can be seen in the background, including the capital quarter towers and the new land currently occupied by NoFitState.

If they've been added then maybe we'll get an official announcement soon? I'm hoping that's the case, because after spending this weekend in Leeds we really need to catch up. They've got the right idea up there!

I understand that a decision is expect in the next couple of weeks. If this project will go ahead and go ahead very quickly if CCC grant permission, as will the neighbouring scheme.

I'm suprised that there are only 4 objections, but I expected one from Cllr Elizabthe Clark. She must be worried about about the impact on all of those buy to let schemes in Cathays. I agree with her comments regarding the Stadium and that this building must be of the highest quality. I think the shorter scheme may have more of chance of passing. We'll have to wait and see.

It's nice to see those other developments on there. It makes sense that the JR Smart schemes are there as they've been approved, but there's a lot around Callaghan Square and Dumballs Road that haven't been approved and are on there. Must be more going on behind the scenes with those.

I think some of the stuff there is based on outline planning applications - certainly Callaghan Square and Dumballs Road. Not sure about the Callaghan Square - John Street site. As far as I know, there is no application in for that yet. Maybe this reflects early design work or something from earlier Callaghan Square plans?

I'm suprised that there are only 4 objections, but I expected one from Cllr Elizabthe Clark. She must be worried about about the impact on all of those buy to let schemes in Cathays. I agree with her comments regarding the Stadium and that this building must be of the highest quality. I think the shorter scheme may have more of chance of passing. We'll have to wait and see.

Cllr Clarke's comments about the stadium are downright bizarre. She rants about Stadium House being 'overbearing' and 'ruining the vistas' of the Millennium Stadium as if Stadium House was a recent development. In fact, it predates the current stadium by some decades.

I think they actually complement each other rather well too.

Looks like there's been a small design refinement to introduce more (some!) windows in the top section from the Customhouse St view. Big improvement in my view.

Cllr Clarke's comments about the stadium are downright bizarre. She rants about Stadium House being 'overbearing' and 'ruining the vistas' of the Millennium Stadium as if Stadium House was a recent development. In fact, it predates the current stadium by some decades.

I'm tired of people complaining about the views of the millennium stadium. If we really cared about that then why build it in the middle of a city centre? Nowhere else in the world would development be halted due to a stadium view being obstructed.